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After experiencing what it must be like to have 3rd world glaucomas in both eyes thanks to a presentation via iChat, followed by the poetic ramblings of a type-mad italian, the main event, George Hardie, walked out onto centre stage.

The audience warmed to George like one warms to an eccentric old uncle. His dulcet tones lulling us into an expectation that we would soon be immersed by a flood of self-deprecating English humour. But our expectation was soon quashed by the announcement that he had a mere 482 slides to get through.

We watched him waffling intelligently and insightfully, as only the English can, through slide after slide. This was the man that had designed Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd album covers. Artwork that I have had many formative experiences over. But the best thing about his presentation, as with most design presentations, was listening to him describe how he works and the processes he uses.

George is a man obsessed with collecting 'stuff': broken tiles, old boxes, pressed flowers, crude wooden Mickey Mouse figurines from Spain. Hard rubbish days must be the happiest days of his life. These found objects are the basis for many of his illustrations. The viewer of George's illustrations is also taken on this journey of collecting 'stuff', as they discover more and more in each image.

In contrast with his obsession with random found objects, his approach to illustration is exact and meticulous. Some famous dude once said that image-making is about creating illusions, and George certainly uses his draftsman-like approach well to do this. One example of this was his creation of fake found objects, including fake matchboxes complete with George Hardie puns, as part of an image about an English town.

Yes, we were not to be deprived of humour, not only by George's presentation, but also through the illustrative and typographic wit found in his work. I particularly liked the concept behind a series of images created for Virgin shopping bags. These were based upon drawings you find in magazines and newspapers where one is asked to "spot the difference" - George had delightfully twisted this around, creating a series of images where one "spots the same". The composition of each image was rearranged so that common elements were located in different locations. Unfortunately, Richard Bransen couldn't see the joke, and they were never used.

George Hardie's presentation was well worth the roasting I received the following day by my client. George is an affable, entertaining old bugger who thinks a lot about the illustrative process. Another door in my mind has opened having listened to his words.

Thanks AGDA and AGIdeas.

Alex Tyers

"Thank you Alex"

"Good one Alex, the people that missed it, will be poorer for it."

"Thank you Alex, this is a lovely insight."